The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Burhanuddin Helmy, PM yang tak pernah kita miliki Posted: 29 Aug 2012 05:05 PM PDT 30 OGOS ― Di atas robohan kota Melaka, Kita dirikan jiwa Mereka, Bersatu padulah segenap baka, Membela hak keadilan pusaka. Pantun Dr Burhanuddin bin Muhammad Nur Al Helmy atau dikenali sebagai Burhanuddin Helmy semasa galak melawan penjajah British melalui parti pimpinannya, Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM). Insan ini adalah insan hebat dan istimewa yang berjaya menyatukan rakyat pelbagai kaum pada ketika itu melalui Putera–AMCJA (gabungan Pusat Tenaga Rakyat dan All Malayan Council of Joint Action) menawarkan Perlembagaan Rakyat sebagai persiapan untuk mengambil alih Malaya dari British. Perlembagaan Rakyat setebal 60 muka surat, hasil usaha Pak Sako yang dirumuskan dan diluluskan pada bulan Ogos 1947. Sebahagian daripada kandungannya ialah: • Persekutuan Tanah Melayu merdeka termasuk Singapura. • Kerajaan Pusat dan Kerajaan Negeri dipilih oleh rakyat. • Kedaulatan Raja-Raja Melayu sebagai Raja Berpelembagaan. • Bendera dan Lagu Kebangsaan ditetapkan. • Taraf warga negara samarata kepada semua penduduk yang taat setia. • Melayu sebagai nation (negara bangsa) bukan Malayan. • Agama Islam ditadbir oleh Majlis Mesyuarat Khas. Putera–AMCJA melancarkan Hartal selepas British menolak gagasan mereka menyebabkan Malaya ibarat "dilanggar Garuda". British yang takut dengan perkembangan ini mengisytiharkan darurat. Putera-AMCJA diharamkan. Termasuklah pergerakkan politik lain seperti PKMM, PKM, API AWAS, GERAM dan banyak lagi. Ramai ditangkap termasuklah Dr Burhanuddin dan Ahmad Boestaman. Gagallah satu usaha progesif yang mahu memerdekakan Malaya. Dr Burhanuddin terus keluar masuk penjara walaupun selepas Merdeka. Dituduh komunis dan menjadi ancaman negara. Malaya gagal untuk hidup dibawah pimpinan seorang tokoh hebat yang diiktiraf dunia dan terus dibelenggu masalah perkauman selepas 55 tahun Merdeka. Fakta kemerdekaan Walaupun sudah 55 tahun merdeka, penjelasan perlu dibuatkan tentang salah tanggapan yang meluas mengenai sejarah negara. PKMM adalah parti pertama buat orang-orang Melayu, bersifat progresif dan anti penjajahan. Dr Burhanuddin bersama-sama dengan Ishak Haji Muhammad (Pak Sako), Musa Ahmad, Ahmad Boestamam, Shamsiah Fakeh, Abu Bakar Bakir, Abdullah CD dan ramai lagi bergerak aktif memperjuangkan kemerdekaan Malaya bersama parti yang ditubuhkan pada tahun 1945 itu, sebelum United Malay National Organization (Umno) ditubuhkan. Tidak tepat jika Umno mendakwa mereka mempelopori perjuangan kemerdekaan. Lebih tepat jika Umno katakan, British lebih selesa kemerdekaan Malaya dipimpin oleh Umno berbanding PKMM. Mengapa? Kerana PKMM mahukan kemerdekaan penuh daripada British. Ertinya, jika PKMM menang dalam perlawanan memerdekakan Malaya dan Dr Burhanuddin menjadi Perdana Menteri pertama Malaya, semua kepentingan British di Malaya akan lenyap. Lihatlah apabila Malaya merdeka ditangan Umno, syarikat seperti Guthrie hanya berjaya diambil alih kembali oleh anak tempatan pada tahun 1980an. Selagi penulisan sejarah tidak ditulis semula untuk memberikan keadilan semua pejuang tanpa mengira latar belakang politik, selagi itulah semangat patriotik rakyat tidak akan kuat. Minggu lalu di sebuah kedai kopi di Brickfields saya dan dua orang teman memerhatikan bagaimana hanya dua kereta yang meletakkan Jalur Gemilang melalui dari pukul 11 malam sehingga pukul tiga pagi. Tidakkah kita merasakan ada masalah tentang patriotisme disini? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2012 04:52 PM PDT AUG 30 — It is said, with fair cause, that imitation is the highest form of flattery. From writers to kings, those who have marked their place in history, have often stood on the shoulders of giants. Christopher Marlowe is a relative afterthought to William Shakespeare; New Kids on the Block [1] eclipsed New Edition on the charts because they were decidedly white; and even Martin Luther King Jr was accused of liberally picking up choice lines from supreme thinkers. But if you really want to know, neither "Armageddon" nor "Deep Impact" with almost identical storylines in their 1998 race to the bottom via a comet or two made cinema grow except to contribute a cliché song [2] and a nasty — daddy-child fight the nerves before the surf — scene. You probably didn't, but this you want to know — Malaysia has a new hype. Copycat government. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government in a stroke of genius has decided to mimic Pakatan Rakyat (PR). The opposition is flattered, that their ideas are being applauded in a backhanded way, but suffice to say PR is also experiencing a whole range of other emotions. Because as ever, the BN is trying to eat its cake and have it too. And denying PR any credit for raising these issues. The glaring one being BN flaying PR — PKR especially — over demands to drop excise taxes and end Approved Permits [3] for automobiles, saying that it will destroy fragile local industries and deprive government of revenue, and then turning around and seed the news that they are about to lower car prices in stages. So the government reluctantly agrees with PR? If that is the case, then shouldn't the various "analysts" who have accused PR of being irresponsible with the automotive proposals train their guns now on BN leaders? Isn't turd by any other name, still turd? Of course this is not new, the two-facedness by both the "analysts" and the government, but the rapidity of the adoptions by BN presently cast a new light on the Najib administration, it fears its own shadows. The PTPTN [N], the national college-loan fund, U-turn is more subtle — but it is there to be seen. The repayment rate is now down to a monthly RM50. Effectively BN is agreeing principally to the policies they have consistently pilloried as populist. Same too, the two-tiered minimum wage plan from BN is a direct consequence of PR prodding. Still, the BN proposal is lower and there is the real danger that it will be dragged out longer if the coalition wins the general election. Mercies for a nation The dynamics of the incumbent backtracking and incorporating the ideas from the other side of the aisle is interesting viewing. It is also the way government should always be, a result of public debate. Parliament is where the general debate is synthesised. It upholds the premise that all citizens have ideas. When those good ideas are not harnessed then the system has failed, not the citizen. The "cut and paste" situation heightens the theory that the more parity in reach, discourse and decision-making then better things are in store for the Malaysian people. But it would be better cricket if the government was magnanimous in recognising they have changed tracks on particular areas due to the lobbying of those not in their ranks. It's only polite to say thank you. "We are one country," doesn't the prime minister say it in multiple ways, which does grate me just like the Aerosmith song. So in this Merdeka season, Najib might want to show Malaysian leadership and render his slogans more life than the printing-ink bearing them. For this nation cannot be one when only one half of it is right, and the other half not — all the time. "Let them copy" culture Najib thanking is a separate matter, but if the ideas being copied are half decent, then the Malaysian people are forced to consider; if PR has the better ideas, would it not be better to let them administer and not just wait for the most pressing of their ideas to be co-opted by BN? I will concede that between ideas and their successful implementation there lies a long road with other obstacles. Changes in the automotive industries' taxation system will have to be managed across the local and international realities, and there has to be a soft landing for those asked to bear the changes most. But as any work promotion must factor, all those hoisted up to positions can only be judged by the past and their suitability for the new position is based on the potential projected in the previous role. The people of Malaysia have to judge the potential projected. If the guys they are set to replace have been copying from PR, then the signs are all positive for the opposition and fairly ominous for the BN lads. It appears if the above is widely shared, then the BN team are going to have a fairly nervous Merdeka holiday period. Happy Merdeka to all, even to my distressed mates in Umno. [1] Put your head down in shame if you were an NKOTB kid... Alright, there were occasions I sang along to "The right stuff." [2] "I don't want to miss a thing" [3] To protect the national automotive industry in the early 1980s, all foreign cars had to pay higher excise taxes, and those bringing in foreign cars had to apply for the Approved Permit. [4] Most Malaysian students studying locally over the last 15 years have taken loans from the fund. There are many who have not been able to service the loan since they are unemployed or in lower-paying jobs. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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